One Mission Too Many
by chicamook
Summary: NejiTen AU. Neji finds his way back to Konoha battered and barely breathing. His recovery process will be long, but Tenten's road to absolution and vengeance will be longer.
1. Homecoming

Tenten sat on the edge of his hospital bed, holding and stroking his hand with her thumb. What her teammate must have endured wretched at her core. Broken ribs, black eyes, and lacerations, littered his form, laboring his breathing. She looked up at the analog clock on the wall.

 _3:37am_ it read, illuminated by the moon. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her free hand, and got up off the bed, unlocking her fingers from his light grip. She walked over to the window, opening the latch, letting a soft summer breeze into his stuffy room. What was left of Neji's hair danced around his face, fluttering about his bruised features.

It had been four days since her teammate had arrived back home from his most recent mission. He had somehow made the journey back to Konoha, collapsing only three kilometers short of the front gates. It had been Kakashi's team who had found him, almost unrecognisable, with the swelling in his face, and all the weight he had lost because of the abuse. Luckily a pink haired medic had been there to quickly administer him life saving techniques in order to stop the bleeding. She had estimated that he had been in that spot for no longer than ten minutes. Though she also said if they had been any later to the scene, it would have been too late.

 _I will have to get Sakura something._ She thought. _At the very least, I can take her out for a drink to thank her._

She let out a deep sigh. Her body was exhausted. More so than she can ever remember, but her mind wouldn't let her fall asleep. She envied Lee for that reason. She sat in the chair next to his, watching a thin stream of drool trickle down his chin from his open mouth. She was thinking of slapping him awake to rid the snoring, but she figured the noise was better than deafening silence accompanying her racing thoughts.

She rubbed at her skin on her arm, wishing she could peel away her layers to give them to Neji. She can't remember her teammate ever looking this defeated, even when he was bested by Naruto in the Chunin exams. His skin looked almost grey, covered in blue and purple bruises. His slightly sunken in face proved his malnutrition. His hitai-ate was missing, exposing his caged bird seal on his forehead, something he rarely showed others.

He began to stir, grunting with every move. Tenten shot up off her chair, and found herself leaning over his bed, hands pressed together by her chest. "Neji?" she whispered quietly as to not wake Lee.

Another grunt, a little higher pitched escaped his mouth. His nose scrunched, and brow furrowed. He clenched his teeth and sucked in air as his discomfort had risen.

"I'm here, Neji." she pushed out with the little hope she had. She tousled his hair out of his face, caressing his curse mark in the process.

His lips parted, as his heavy eyes fluttered open. "Hn?" he was able to choke out. His throat was dry and he was desperately trying to summon saliva to coat his vocal cords. He leaned his face to the side of his pillow, resting his cheek in her open palm. He felt the softness of her hands, and her cool touch soothed his aches. Her other hand delicately rested on the base of his neck, trying to urge him to wake. His eyes squeezed closed a few more times with the intensity of his pain.

"Can I get you anything?" trying to convince him to converse.

He gently nodded his head. "W-water."

Her eyes wrinkled, and an apologetic look spread across her face. "The nurses said your body isn't ready quite yet. They gave me these for you to suck on." The simple device looked like a lollipop, but with a pink sponged end, where the candy would have been. She dipped the sponge end of the stick into a cup of ice water. And held it to his mouth. "Open."

Neji opened his mouth as much as his battered jaw would allow. She moved the sponge around attempting to moisten it fully. It was a strange motion, intimate, almost like brushing his teeth for him. She kept looking up into his eyes, to sense any pain. The wet sponge seemed to help a little, though she could tell he needed more than she was allowed to give.

"Do you need Morphine?" she asked while placing the sponge back on the tray table. "They told me which button it was incase I sensed that you needed it." He didn't answer her back, he just looked down at his hands that rested easily in his lap. "How-" She began, understanding that the rest of the question was the furthest thing from appropriate. She stalled. _How are you? Come on Tenten, get a clue._ She inwardly yelled at herself.

"Tired." He choked, knowing too well what she wanted to ask. Somehow he was able to thrust enough air out of his lungs to answer her question, but not without a few coughs, and God, coughing hurt so bad.

"Lee has been so worried." She tried to carry on the conversation, realizing then how much she missed the sound of his voice.

"Hmm." he moaned softly. It was easy for him to tell that she was only speaking through Lee.

To be honest, she never could get much out Neji in their average conversation anyways. This time she just wanted something to tell her that everything, in time, would be back to normal; from sparring in their favorite training ground, to making fun of their ridiculous teammates.

"Time?" he was able to inquire.

"Um, just before 3:45 am Tuesday morning. You have been out for a few days now."

He nodded once, keeping his eyes on his hands, allowing what little hair he had to cover the majority of his face. Patches were missing, from what seemed to have come from excessive force. The majority of his hair was sliced off. From what she could see, his hair in the back was sticking up, even though the front close to normal.

She sat once again by his side and took his hand in hers, lifting it up to her lips. She held his hand still. There were no words she could think of to console him. Nothing could be said to ease the pain he has gone through. Her anger boiled under her skin. Sensing something was off, Neji gripped her hand as tight as his bruised fingertips would allow, pulling her back to reality.

The next morning Tsunade had stopped by to check all the normal stuff that medics have been doing for the past few days; like, vitals, dressings, and morale. Though his injuries were severe, he seemed to be healing at a normal rate. Tenten couldn't help but stare as the Hokage searched him over. It wouldn't be the first time she'd seen him without a shirt or a hitai-ate. As his teammate, she had seen a lot of skin as a matter of fact. Same unfortunately went for Lee, and her likewise. Although the thing that had bothered her the most was his demeanor. Allowing anyone to poke and prod him seemed unusual and bizarre.

Maybe the thought came from the fact that Neji was rarely hurt enough on missions that she has never recollected him being in this position; so physically and mentally beaten. Not even when they had been sparring in "training ground 2" and she had accidentally drawn a chakra sabre into his upper thigh did he accept medical attention. He had removed it himself, only to get it treated from a Hyuuga clan medic later on in the evening. _So stubborn_ , she thought, and so strange to see his full cooperation.

When Tsunade had left, she had hooked him up to a different type of IV, and had given him the OK to drink fluids as well as meat broth once again. Allowing him a bath later on in the evening as well.

The day went by a little slower than most had previously. She figured it may have been in part of all the uncomfortable visitations he had through the day. He was able to acknowledge a person with a nod or a soft grunt, but that was as much as his visitors could get out of him.

Tenten took a few walks here and there, especially when Hinata and Hanabi visited with their father, Hiashi. She noticed a few thorny gazes from a room filled with byakugans. She took the visual hint and vowed to him that she'd be back in an hour or so. Long enough to stretch her legs and grab a bite to eat. She stopped by the cafeteria to pick up a sandwich for herself and some chicken broth for Neji, although she knew he probably wouldn't touch it, she figured it was a nice gesture.

"Tenten!" A rosette medic called across the cafeteria with an enthusiastic wave.

Tenten waved back with a forced smile, and headed towards her direction. She was so relieved to see an understanding face that she could have cried. If there was anyone that knew about this type of recovery process the best, it would be Sakura. They mutually found a table together to sit and talk.

"I was heading out for my break, and stopped by his room just now and saw his family there. It looked pretty uncomfortable, and I figured you'd be far away from that place."

"I mean the girls are no harm-" Tenten pushed.

"-But it's clear that he doesn't want you around Neji." Sakura leaned in. She had basically finished her sentence.

"There is absolutely nothing intimidating about me! I don't understand his thought process. He's definitely not scared of me, and there is nothing that I have ever done to him, why is he so against our friendship?"

"I mean-" Sakura stammered. Not knowing how to execute the rebuttal. "You guys are together a lot."

"We are on the same team, Sakura. Of course we are gonna be close." Tenten nicely bit back.

"So is Lee." she tried again.

"Well, Lee is a different story." She excused.

"So, you're saying Neji and Lee are different?" Sakura questioned with a knowing smirk.

Tenten was stumbling over her words looking for a defense. "W-well, of course he is, you must sense that. My friendship is less forced with Neji, and he talks less about Gai's 'inspirational quotes' and form than Lee does." Tenten hated the way the rosette looked at her, with a raised eyebrow almost calling out her bluff.

"Have you told him he's 'different'? Does Hiashi know you think he's 'different?'"

Tenten slumped over the table, resting her forehead on the surface, letting out a deep lamenting sigh. Sakura giggled, recounting her own girlhood issues with love. Although unlike Tenten, she had no issues expressing her feelings to the guy.

"Take my advice, and rip off the bandaid. Tell him you like him already and get it out of the way."

"Sakura, that is not the issue at hand at the moment." She shook off her comment.

"When will be the right moment? Who's to say that this isn't the right time? You can do it."

Tenten pushed her chair away from the table, making a small commotion. "I'm not even sure we are on the same page anymore." Standing up she pushed in her chair and grabbed her lunch tray.

"I think you know my answer." Sakura did the same, though she was smiling. "Let me know how it goes, 'kay?" and off she went with a satisfied grin as she made her way back to her office.

Was she really that transparent? Does Neji show the same cellophaned feelings? And who else knows? Too quickly her stomach began to turn thinking of the action of tell Neji how she feels. Even more so, telling him without a clue of what his response would be.


	2. Room 345

Tenten slowly made her way back to the intensive care unit with their lunch in hand. She knew he was going to be in no shape to talk about feelings- but wait, _what feelings?_

"This is ridiculous." she stopped in the middle of the hall. The beeping machines echoed around her. The smell of sterile bathrooms and hand sanitizer filled her being and brought her back to reality. "The last thing he needs right now is more confusion."

She heard a door shut just about 20 feet ahead of her. The herd of Hyuugas were leaving Neji's room. They seemed solemn, though, she supposed, how can you walk out of there, taking in his condition and feel anything but? She moved a few feet to the right into a small niche like hallway, so to not get in there way as they were walking by. She pressed her back up against the wall to blend in a little better. She didn't want to seem like she'd been waiting in the middle of the hallway for them all this time.

She looked down at her tray of food and watched them out of her peripheral vision, as they gracefully walked by. She was given the cold shoulder by his Uncle, yet two pitiful looks from the girls walking behind him. Yet, Hinata gave a heartfelt smile to her classmate and comrade, one that said 'thank you' obviously for keeping an eye on her cousin. Tenten gave her a quick nod as to say 'my pleasure.'

After the Hyuuga's turned the corner out of sight, Tenten once again slowly made her way to his room, hoping he wasn't in too bad of spirits after that uncomfortable visit. To her surprise, he was sitting up in bed with his feet touching the ground as if about to get up.

"Neji!" Tenten rushed to his side, placing the tray of food on a small table by the door. "What are you doing up? Can I get you something?" She instinctively grabbed his forearm with one hand and his hip in the other, trying to keep him in place.

"Bathroom." He stated through clenched teeth, working through the pain.

"Oh, um- maybe I should get your nurse to help-"

"Don't be ridiculous," He shot out at her, "help me up." His outburst really wasn't out of character, but surprising considering his condition.

With some hesitation, she wrapped his arm around her shoulder lifting him off the bed as slowly as possible. She grabbed the IV drip attached to him, and grunting, he was able to take the steps necessary to the bathroom. She walked him to the sink with a strong sturdy handle for him to latch onto. She still held onto his arm, waiting for him to pull away. To her surprise, he grabbed on a little tighter; only as tight as his bruised fingers would allow. A dark shadow covered his face. "I always wondered... what short hair would look like." He mumbled to the floor.

Here she was thinking he needed to pee. He just wanted to see his reflection. He wanted to see for himself what everyone had been seeing, why he was getting such pitiful glares and responses to his condition.

"I think it makes your eyes pop." She smiled softly at his reflection. _WHATTTTT, Tenten, are you kidding yourself? What the HELL is wrong with you?_ She screamed inwardly. _What a stupid stupid thing to say._

"Hmmph." He chuckled under his breath trying to hide a smirk, "Well as long as you think it suits me, then I guess I can tolerate the humility. At least for now." He then leaned a little more heavily onto his teammate, but for his first time mobile in about a week or so, he figured he'd reached his limit for the day.

"Are you feeling okay?" She asked as she walked him back to the bed, holding his hand in the process. "I brought back some soup if you'd like some." She placed him down on the bed, helping him to lift up his legs. "Well, actually it's just broth, like the medic said you could have, but I figured I could crumble up some crackers on top to make it taste better." Tenten took a moment to fluff his pillows and recenter his blankets, to focus on anything other than the lilac eyes that seemed to be staring through her soul as she rambled. "If you don't want it that's fine, I just thought-" She was cut off by a raised hand to her cheek, warm and calloused, caressing the light bags under her eyes. Studying her face as if it was his first time seeing her in awhile.

"How long have you been here?" he brushed the fine hairs away from her face and tucked them gently behind her ear..

"It hasn't been too long, I think I came back at 2:00 PM with the soup. I can always reheat it if you'd like it warmer."

"That's not what I was talking about."

"Oh, um, well I've been taking walks, and a few breaks here and there when you've had visitors. It really hasn't been too bad for me-"

"When was the last time you slept in your own bed?" He cut her off again.

"Well-"

"Tenten-"

"Even if I had gone home, I wouldn't have been able to sleep anyways." she practically shouted. The room seemed so much quieter than it had before. She could hear the buzzing of the fluorescent lights, and the mumbling through the walls of the people next door. The mood changed dramatically. She sat down on the edge of his bed holding onto his hand that she moved to her lap. "I got worried when you didn't show up at my place. Although I knew a Hyuuga would always pull through."

It wasn't like Neji to accept pity from others, especially his teammates, but something kept him quieter than usual. He let her voice her inner feelings, something he usually avoids.

"I can't talk about the mission."

"I'm not asking you to. But I want you to know I'm here for you." Tenten knew he wouldn't be able to talk about the mission, even though they've broken the rules plenty of times, this instance was far different than the others. This one was Hyuuga business, it was only cleared by the Hokage after severe pressure from Hiashi. "Venting is part of the healing process too."

Neji raised a dark eyebrow at the kunoichi trying to hide his grin. "You know you'd be the first person I'd concede to." He shut his eyes hoping that he would soon be met by some much needed sleep. She turned slowly in her spot, to lay in the same position as him, contorting her body around the wires attached to his wrist, she welcomed his body heat and just like that she was asleep.

After the fourth medic came into Neji's quarters, the orders were given to move Neji from the intensive care unit, to the rehabilitation center for at least two days, until the Hokage herself decided he was well enough for discharge. It was quite an exciting morning; the IV drip was taken off, and all the wires were gone, meaning he could eat real food for himself.

Tenten had shuffled home to refresh herself. After a quick shower and a change of clothes, she was feeling better than she had in awhile. She felt like this was a good opportunity to show her teammate that she was more than weaponry. Foraging through her drawers, she got out her recipe for anpan, and decided to make a batch for the hospital. Knowing that Neji really never had a thing for sweets, she made a few with sweet red bean paste, and a few without.

She gathered a few things to take back with her, a book, a change of clothes, and a sweatshirt along with the fresh anpan, and she was out the door headed back to Konoha Medical Unit. Taking out one of the buns she made, she bit into it, savoring the way her teeth cut into the bread. Food is so much better right out of the oven. Then it dawned on her. _This will be the first thing he has eaten since being back._ She wasn't too worried, because she knew this recipe was one that couldn't compete with hospital food. Plus, he's probably also starving. Pushing a tad more chakra into her heels, she hurried along back.

Tenten made her way to the front desk of the new building he was being moved to. A larger woman with light brown skin and dark green hair was sitting behind the front desk on the phone. Other lines were calling in like crazy, with all sorts of buttons lighting up. _Some of these must be room service requests_ she thought. This was a job Tenten was glad she didn't have, the poor lady looked stressed beyond belief, she was curious as to why she was alone in the middle of the afternoon. Taking out a napkin, she set one of her baked goods on the counter as a nod of appreciation for what she was doing for the greater good of Konoha. Ninja's weren't the only people that had tough jobs.

"Ohh!" The green haired woman exclaimed rushing to end her phone call. "Just a second." she whispered to her new friend while covering the phone. A few utterances later she hung up, ignoring the other phone calls coming in and focusing on the girl in front of her. "You're so sweet honey, I've had the worst day so far."

"Well I hope you like Anpan!" Tenten smiled

"Look at me, you know I do." She jested, "The girl I was working with is due back any minute now, and then I'm off to break. Are you looking for someone?"

"Yes, he should have been moved by now, Hyuuga Neji's room please."

"Hmm," She whipped through the paperwork on her desk, searching through three large piles, "I'm not seeing the name anywhere-" She moved her attention to her computer and started typing. "Here he is. It looks like he is still in the ICU. It says here that there has been a development in his situation."

"Wh-what?" the brunette stuttered "He was doing well a few hours ago?" She picked up her basket, and started sprinting towards his unit.

"Room 345!" The desk attendant shouted after her, feeling pitious of the current situation.

Tenten turned down a different hall of the building that he had originally been in, hoping that the woman had gotten it all wrong and was mistaken about the situation. Her worries were halted for a moment when she noticed two of her teammates standing outside his door.

"Gai Sensei, Lee-" She came to a hard stop when Tsunade came out of room 345. She knew well enough this wasn't a good situation.

"It seems he has contracted some type of fever, accompanied by fits of rage, and violence." Tsunade said matter of factly. "What his trigger was, we are not sure." Her words fell silent to horrendous screaming coming from the door behind her. It's then that Tenten noticed an unwelcome face in his room. Hyuuga Hiashi was activating Neji's curse mark.

"What is going on?! Why is Hiashi-"She was cut off by the booming voice of the Hokage.

"He is doing what he needs to do in order to wear Neji out. The idea is, his spirit and will power will be broken using this method, which will help him comply. I can assure you I like the process no more than you do." The busty blonde crossed her arms and closed her eyes, giving the impression that this method was under no discussion. Painful loud screaming continued as a few nurses ran into the room.

Tenten moved to the other side of Gai, and could see the writhing shinobi in full view. His bandages were no longer in place, and his curse mark was glowing bright blue. Clawing at his scalp, and gritting his teeth, Neji was doing all that he could to stay conscious. She was staring, and hoping that somehow he'd pull through once again.

The team attempted to wait for this ordeal to be over, they sat in the lobby for any possible developments. A few hours went by and the head of the Hyuuga clan emerged with Tsunade. Shaking his head, he muttered words to her and was off, but not before an icy glare to Tenten.

Tsunade's expression was solemn but stern. She informed the team that he will be under 24/7 watch until they can figure out what exactly went wrong and why. He is not to have any visitors until then. This news broke Tenten. Her eyes became incredibly heavy, and tears threatened to stain her cheeks. As the group walked past, she stopped before the door, peering through the small square window.

To her horror, she saw Neji past out, strapped to the hospital bed under full body restraints. His curse mark seemed to still be glowing, and the skin around it was red and blotchy. A nurse was wiping the sweat away from his face with a soaked cloth, wringing out the water in a basin next to him.

 _Neji..._


End file.
